A Visual Studio Code extension that provides an interactive UI to browse, select, and generate package.xml files for Salesforce org development. Built for the Org Development Model workflow — similar to the Eclipse Force.com IDE's Add/Remove Metadata Components experience, but modernized for VS Code.
Features
🗂️ Interactive Metadata Browser
Two-panel grid layout — metadata types on the left, components on the right
Click any metadata type to load and browse its individual components
Search/filter boxes on both panels for quick navigation
Badge counts showing the number of children per metadata type
✅ Flexible Selection
Select All — bulk-selects all metadata types (skipping Reports, Dashboards, Email Templates, and Documents that require special folder handling)
Clear All — deselects everything in one click
Per-component checkboxes for granular control
Select/deselect all components within a single metadata type
📄 Package.xml Generation
Update Package.xml — writes the selected metadata directly to manifest/package.xml in your workspace and opens it in the editor
Copy to Clipboard — copies the formatted package.xml content without modifying any files, so you can paste it wherever you need
Automatically detects the org's API version via sf org display, with a fallback to API version 62.0
⚡ Workspace Cache
Caches metadata types and component lists in .sf/sf-package-generator-cache.json to speed up repeat loads
24-hour TTL — cache auto-expires after one day
Refresh button in the toolbar to clear the cache and re-fetch from the org on demand
Cache age indicator (e.g. "⚡ Cached (12m ago)") shown in the toolbar
🛡️ Non-Retrievable Type Filtering
Automatically filters out ~20 metadata types that are deprecated, removed, or cannot be retrieved via the Metadata API — including legacy S-Controls, child types like CustomField/ValidationRule, and removed types like EventDelivery/EventSubscription.
🎨 Modern UI
Native VS Code look and feel using CSS custom properties (--vscode-* tokens)
Matches your current theme (dark, light, or high-contrast) automatically
Smooth scrollbars, hover states, focus indicators, and loading animations
Set up your project using SF: Create Project with Manifest and authorize an org with SF: Authorize an Org (skip if already done). See Org Development Model with VS Code for details.
Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS / Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux).
Run SF Package.xml Generator: Choose Metadata Components.
Browse and select the metadata you need.
Click Update Package.xml to write the file, or Copy to Clipboard to grab the XML content.
Optionally run SF: Retrieve Source in Manifest from Org to pull the selected metadata into your project.
Extension Commands
Command
Description
SF Package.xml Generator: Choose Metadata Components
